Sharks not handing out a third ‘A’ to replace that worn by departed Clowe — and those Eastern rankings

SAN JOSE — Since 2010, the Sharks have gone with three assistant captains — Dan Boyle full-time while Patrick Marleau and Ryane Clowe split the duties. Joe Thornton, of course, has worn the ‘C.’

The Clowe trade created the opportunity for Todd McLellan to elevate another player to the more visible part of the team’s leadership group, and there had been speculation that the ‘A’ would go to Logan Couture or Joe Pavelski.

But McLellan has decided against adding another assistant captain, and will stick with Boyle and Marleau in that role.

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“I think our (leadership) group is too large to leave somebody out right now,” McLellan said Monday, “so we’re going to have them just contribute without the letter on.”

I had talked with Couture earlier in training camp about the possibility of getting an ‘A’ and he played down the importance of it.

“A letter on your jersey doesn’t really mean much to me,” Couture said. “You look around this room, we’ve got guys that don’t have letters who have played in this league awhile. They’ve seen a lot and they’re leaders on this team. You don’t need a letter on your jersey to be a leader on this team, you know that.

“If it happens, it happens,” he continued. “I’m just trying to do the same things I did last year and get better as a player.”

****Now it’s official. Here’s the roster the Sharks will start the season with Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks. Both Raffi Torres and Marty Havlat are starting the season on injured reserve, but at this point only Torres is going on the long-term list. That can always change.

1. Boston Bruins — The Bruins, who lost the Stanley Cup finals to the Chicago Blackhawks in stunning fashion in Game 6, got a bit younger in the offseason as experienced players — Andrew Ference and Jaromir Jagr — left via free agency in the offseason and Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley were dealt to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson and three prospects. Boston did sign Jarome Iginla as a free agent to bolster the offense, but will have a relatively young defense with Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton (Freddie’s youger brother) expected to play large roles. The forwards corps is led by Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic and David Krejci. That said, goaltender Tuukka Rask will need to show the Bruins didn’t make a big mistake when they signed him to an eight-year contract extension.

2. Montreal Canadiens — Hockey’s most decorated franchise had a big improvement in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, as the Canadiens overhauled their operations and went from missing the playoffs to finishing second in the now-defunct Northwest Division. Now Montreal, which lost to Ottawa in five games in the first round, is hoping a few more tweaks can take it to the next level, as the Canadiens brought in Daniel Briere and big bodies George Parros and former Shark Douglas Murray. Still, any success Montreal enjoys will come from its returning corps, which includes Norris Trophy winner PK Subban, and forwards Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta and Andrei Markov. Although the Canadiens are not favored to win the division title, they should still safely make the playoffs.

3. Detroit Red Wings — The Red Wings move to the Eastern Conference, renewing regional rivalries and drastically cutting down their travel. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Detroit, which squeaked into the Western conference playoffs in the spring, has an easy path to the postseason. The division already has several playoff-caliber teams and Valtteri Filppula, Damien Brunner and Dan Cleary are all gone. The Red Wings bolstered their second line with the addition of Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss to go with Johan Franzen. But the first line of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader, and goalie Jimmy Howard, will need to have a strong year to get the Red Wings back to the conference finals.

** 4. Toronto Maple Leafs — The Leafs are coming off a bittersweet season in which they made the playoffs again after years of disappointment, but lost in the first round to Boston in a Game 7 they should have won. Toronto aims to take another step forward this season as Dave Bolland was acquired at the draft and David Clarkson was signed to a seven-year deal. Jonathan Bernier was acquired from Los Angeles to challenge James Reimer for the starting goaltender’s job. If the Leafs’ young players like Nazem Kadri can continue to develop, they should again be in the playoffs.

5. Ottawa Senators — Few teams went through as much upheaval in the offseason as the Senators, who lost captain Daniel Alfredsson to Detroit in free agency and traded for Bobby Ryan in a massive deal with Anaheim. Clarke MacArthur was also signed from Toronto to boost an offense that ranked 27th in the NHL in goals scored. The big question for Ottawa will be if it can stay healthy, as Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson, Milan Michalek and Craig Anderson all missed significant time last season. Thanks to its defense, though, which was bolstered by the addition of Joe Corvo from Dallas, the Senators should be in the mix for a playoff spot this season.

6. Tampa Bay Lightning — Despite handing a compliance buyout to Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay does appear to have enough offensive firepower to once again be one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. It appears third-overall draft pick Jonathan Drouin will play alongside Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, and the signing of Valtteri Filppula gives the Lightning some depth down the middle. The questions for Tampa Bay will be on the defensive side. Victor Hedman and Sami Salo form a nice top pairing, but Ben Bishop still remains a question mark in goal.

7. Florida Panthers — The Panthers finished with the worst record in the NHL last season and might need another year or two to get back into the playoff picture. Florida does have a tantalizing amount of young talent, led by Calder Trophy-winning winger Jonathan Huberdeau and 2013 first round selection Aleksander Barkov, and some veteran leadership with Tomas Fleischmann, Brian Campbell and Scott Gomez. Although the signing of Tim Thomas could stabilize the goaltending situation, the Panthers need some more time to let their young players develop. They will surprise some teams, but chances are they won’t be consistent enough to threaten for a playoff spot.

8. Buffalo Sabres — The Sabres are going through a rebuilding phase and appear headed for another playoff-less spring. Veterans Jason Pominville, Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr were all dealt last season and UFAs-to-be Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek could be the next ones to go. Coach Ron Rolston had the interim tag removed from his title in the summer, and could be a good choice to shepherd Buffalo through its growing pains. Buffalo’s special teams were awful last season, as the power play ranked 29th out of 30 teams and the penalty kill was 26th. In the meantime, look for Vanek, Cory Hodgson, Drew Stafford to lead the offense and Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers to lead the defensive corps.

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

1. Pittsburgh Penguins — The Penguins went into an offseason with some unknowns, but came out of it having resigned Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz. Those players, along with Sidney Crosby, should make Pittsburgh the team to beat in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins’ goaltending situation, though, is a little unsettled. Tomas Vokoun is out indefinitely with a blood clot in his pelvis, so the onus is on Marc-Andre Fleury to regain the form that he showed in 2009 when Pittsburgh won the Cup. If he struggles, Pittsburgh’s other option is Jeff Zatkoff, who has no NHL experience.

2. Washington Capitals — Clearly, the Capitals need Alex Ovechkin to be a productive player if they hope to challenge for the division title. Because after a slow start last season, Ovechkin caught fire, finished with 56 points, led Washington to the playoffs and won the Hart Trophy. Washington lost Mike Ribeiro to free agency, but picked up Mikhail Grabovski for the second line. Defensively, Mike Green showed his value last season when he was healthy, and if goalie Braden Holtby can recapture the form he showed last season, the Capitals will challenge for the division crown.

3. New York Rangers — After his coaching style wore thin in the dressing room and with the team’s upper management, John Tortorella was shown the door and replaced by the more level-headed Alain Vigneault. The style of the former Canucks coach should rejuvenate Brad Richards, keep Rick Nash and Derek Stepan as offensive forces, and serve young players well. Having a healthy Marc Staal will make a big difference, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist is well-established as one of the best in the league. If New York stays healthy, a division title isn’t out of the question.

** 4. New York Islanders — The Islanders have stockpiled high draft choices for years and some of that talent started to mature last season, when New York made the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Along with John Tavares, who had 28 goals in 2013 and was a nominee for the Hart Trophy, Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner and Kyle Okposo all became legitimate scorers. The defensive corps is also young, but does have Andrew MacDonald and Lubomir Visnovsky to lean on for experience. Goalie Evgeni Nabakov isn’t getting any younger at 38, and as Sharks fans know, he has a ceiling in terms of playoff success. But if he can have another strong season, the Islanders may be in the playoffs back to back years for the first time since 2003 and 2004.

5. Columbus Blue Jackets — Few people pegged the Blue Jackets to contend for a playoff spot at the start of the lockout-shortened 2013 season. But thanks to the efforts of Vezina Trophy winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus finished strong and nearly made the postseason. The Blue Jackets need Bobrovsky to display that same magic touch to contend for a playoff spot this year, although they should be improved on offense with Marian Gaborik feeling more comfortable in his surroundings and the addition of Nathan Horton from Boston. Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov form a solid top line, but can Columbus’ other forwards continue to contribute?

6. Philadelphia Flyers — Although they signed Vincent Lecavalier and Mark Streit, the Flyers may benefit most by who they don’t have anymore — Ilya Bryzgalov. The enigmatic goalie could not live up to the expectations of his massive contract and the last seven years of his deal was bought out by the team. Leadership and goal-scoring aren’t problems in Philadelphia, as Claude Giroux is a legitimate MVP candidate and Scott Hartnell should bounce back from an injury-shortened 2013 season. If young players such as Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier continue to grow, and Ray Emery and Steve Mason provide some consistent goaltending, the Flyers could surprise some people.

7. Carolina Hurricanes — The Hurricanes should again have one of the better offenses in the Eastern Conference and Eric and Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner and Jiri Tlusty. The question for Carolina will be in net, as it looks for Cam Ward to regain the form he showed at the start of last season before he went down with a knee injury — torpedoing the Hurricanes’ hopes for a playoff spot. If Alex Semin shows up on a regular basis to boost the power play, Ward stays healthy and some newcomers are able to contribute, Carolina could be a sleeper team in its new division.

8. New Jersey Devils — It certainly doesn’t appear as if the Devils will challenge for a playoff spot this season — not after Ilya Kovalchuk retired (and signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL) and David Clarkson signed with Toronto. The bulk of New Jersey’s offense will come from the top line of Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac and the ageless Jaromir Jagr, who, along with Michael Ryder, was signed to make up for the absence of Kovalchuk. Former Shark Ryane Clowe will add needed toughness and New Jersey does have insurance in net, as Cory Schneider was acquired from Vancouver to spell Martin Brodeur and eventually take his spot as the No. 1 goalie. They’ll need to be stellar for the Devils, because the goal-scoring could be in short supply.

****The rankings are part of the Merc’s NHL Preview package on the paper’s web site. Head to the Sharks page and follow the links from there.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

Well, this should be an interesting year in the teal kingdom with the youth movement. I think it is going to be fun watching this kid Tomas, as he hertl-s the puck at goal and scores, or watching as he hertl-s down the ice, or hertl-s over an opposing player’s check. It actually hertl me to make such bad puns–so sorry. If this was a Russian hockey blog, we could have a field day punning with “Nieto”.
Please, drop the puck, so that I won’t have to pun again.

Tyler Runyon

Drouin was already sent back to junior.

hockeyhappens

Sabres picked up on it though — with the C not the A. Vanek is C for home games, Steve Ott for away games.

hockeyhappens

Watching the opening of the Habs game on mute while listening to Levin (the other Great One ).

As I like tradition their play intro was kinda awkward or querky. I am surprised it didn’t take 10 min longer…LOL.

hockeyhappens

That said… Game On!

Woo Hooo!

hockeyhappens

Leafs scored 1st goal of NHL season — PPG. Habs ended up with a goal 4 on 4.